1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

The first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup took place over three seasons from 1955 to 1958. The competition began with a group stage with each team playing home and away against each other. Due to the competition rules which stated only one side from each city was allowed to compete, many cities with several football clubs picked the best players from those teams to create a city representative side. One of these, the London XI, went on to reach the final where they were beaten over two legs by the Barcelona XI (later recognized as FC Barcelona).

1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Ball used in the final (FC Barcelona Museum)
Tournament details
Dates4 June 1955 – 1 May 1958
Teams12
Final positions
Champions Barcelona XI
(Later recognized as FC Barcelona) (1st title)
Runners-up London XI
Tournament statistics
Matches played23
Goals scored93 (4.04 per match)
Top scorer(s) Evaristo
Peter Murphy
(4 goals each)

Group stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona XI 2 1 1 0 7 3 +4 3
2 Copenhagen XI 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1
3 Vienna XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition
Barcelona XI 6–2 KBU Copenhagen XI
Areta 8', 10'
Tejada 40', 80'
Villaverde 40'
Kubala 59'		 Report Lundberg 65', 75'
KBU Copenhagen XI 1–1 Barcelona XI
Lundberg 61' Report Villaverde 85'

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Birmingham City 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 7
2 Internazionale 4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 5
3 Zagreb XI 4 0 0 4 0 9 −9 0
Source:
Internazionale 0–0 Birmingham City
Report
Zagreb XI 0–1 Birmingham City
Report Brown 8'
Zagreb XI 0–1 Internazionale
Report Campagnoli 74'
Birmingham City 3–0 Zagreb XI
Orritt 3'
Brown 60'
Murphy 67'		 Report
Internazionale 4–0 Zagreb XI
Skoglund 8', 89'
Lorenzi 43', 50'		 Report
Birmingham City 2–1 Internazionale
Govan 44', 53' Report Lorenzi 88'

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Lausanne-Sport 2 1 0 1 10 9 +1 2
2 Leipzig XI 2 1 0 1 9 10 −1 2
3 Cologne XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition
Leipzig XI 6–3 Lausanne-Sport
Walter 5'
Konzack 9', 82'
Krause 23', 36'
Fettke 69'		 Report Maillard 11'
Rey 31'
Eschmann 43'
Lausanne-Sport 7–3 Leipzig XI
Tedeschi 28'
Eschmann 37', 43', 55'
Moser 38'
Stefano 60', 62'		 Report Walter 13'
Konzack 58'
Frohlich 70'

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 London XI 4 3 0 1 9 3 +6 6
2 Frankfurt XI 4 2 0 2 10 10 0 4
3 Basel XI 4 1 0 3 7 13 −6 2
Source:
Basel XI 0–5 London XI
Report Firmani 35', 81'[lower-alpha 1]
Holton 37', 43', 74'
London XI 3–2 Frankfurt XI
Jezzard 46', 86'
Robson 60'		 Report Pfaff 25'
Kaufhold 30'
London XI 1–0 Basel XI
Robb 87' Report
Frankfurt XI 5–1 Basel XI
Buchenau 19', 80'
Pfaff 31', 73'
Herrmann 52'		 Report Hugi 35'
Frankfurt XI 1–0 London XI
Preisendorfer 72' Report
Basel XI 6–2 Frankfurt XI
Allemann 3', 47', 66'
Sanmann 33'
Hugi 64'
Burger 88'		 Report Kraus 32'
Mayer 65'

Knockout stage
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Lausanne-Sport2
 
 
 
 London XI3
 
 London XI2
 
 
 
 Barcelona XI8
 
 Birmingham City4 (1)
 
 
 Barcelona XI4 (2)
 
  • Teams playing first leg at home shown first.
  • Birmingham City and Barcelona required a play-off after their semi-final finished level on aggregate. The play-off was played in Switzerland.

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lausanne-Sport 2–3 London XI 2–1 0–2
Birmingham City 4–41 Barcelona XI 4–3 0–1

1 Barcelona beat Birmingham City 2–1 in a play-off to qualify for the Final.

First leg
Lausanne-Sport 2–1 London XI
Vonlanden 6', 74' Report Haverty 70'
Birmingham City 4–3 Barcelona XI
Eddy Brown 2'
Orritt 33'
Murphy 35', 60'		 Report Tejada 12'
Evaristo 27'
Martínez 40'

Second leg
London XI 2–0 Lausanne-Sport
Greaves 10'
Holton 76'		 Report
Barcelona XI 1–0 Birmingham City
Kubala 82' Report

Play-off

Barcelona XI 2–1 Birmingham City
Evaristo 33'
Kubala 83'		 Report Murphy 48'

Final
Main article: 1958 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final

First leg
London XI 2–2 Barcelona XI
Greaves 10'
Langley 88' (pen.)		 Martínez 7'
Tejada 35'
Attendance: 45,466
Referee: Albert Dusch (Switzerland)

Second leg
Barcelona XI 6–0 London XI
Suárez 6', 8'
Martínez 42'
Evaristo 52', 75'
Vergés 63'
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Albert Dusch (Switzerland)

Notes
  1. Some sources give the final goal to Hooper.[2][3]

References
  1. "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.
  2. EC 1 & Fairs Cup 1595-1960. International Federation of Football History & Statistics. pp. 158–171.
  3. Velasco, Santiago. "Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1955-58 (game details)". linguasport.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
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